Astrology of health & sickness

[Jim Eshelman]

The topic of medical astrology is grossly under-developed, considering how aggressively some (Tropical) astrologers pursue it. We need more work, though we already know enough to know that there i an enormous potential for diagnosis and prevention here.

I am not a doctor, and nothing here constitutes medical advice. You should not make medical decisions based on what I say here without medical corroboration.

I have a few principles I've used over time. I thought I would articulate them, and then use my own medical history as a comparison (since I recently wrote a new, updated comprehensive medical history for my doctor - it helps put a lifetime of medical matters in perspective).

My Theories About Astro-Diagnosis

1. Body parts primarily relate to constellations in the Libra-as-Head model, not the Aries-as-Head model, though a form of reciprocity seems to occasionally flip this.

2. In the birth chart, signs of Moon, Mars, and Saturn are important for showing vulnerable parts. The Moon-sign shows an overall vulnerability. The Mars signs shows body parts prone to affliction, but primarily through martial means such as breaks, wounds, or inflammation. Saturn's sign is shared by too many people to be broadly useful, but it gets involved quickly when (say) an aspect singles it out.

3. Close hard aspects always have their say. Close hard aspects in the background represent strong energies probably being denied expression, which means they likely emerge as health problems. Moving to where these are foreground takes the pressure off and probably circumvents the medical problem.

4. Sometimes a strength or over-abundance of something in a chart turns into excesses that assault the health, e.g., too many close hard aspects to Mercury showing nervous system overload.

Notice I'm talking here only abut natal vulnerabilities. Bringing in predictive elements adds an entirely different dimension that I'm not addressing in this thread.

[Jim Eshelman]

From the foregoing list, here is what would be theoretically expected from my natal chart:

Moon in Aquarius. Heart or spinal vulnerability.

Mars in Sagittarius. Wounds or breaks to upper extremities etc., inflammation affecting bronchial and pulmonary systems.

Saturn in Libra (since it has a close aspect).Afflictions involving the head and its organs.

Mercury-Saturn conjunction, background. Something affecting the Libra part of the body (head), and possibly the nervous system (e.g., brain damage, speech, etc.).

Venus-Pluto square, background. This would only be expected to cause problems before age 20 when I moved to a location where this aspect became closely angular. If something developed, it would be a destabilization of the hormonal system, something related to sexual functioning, or (with Venus in Scorpio) something involving the neck or throat),

It turns out, this is a pretty accurate list. I'll break it down in the next post.

[Jim Eshelman]

Most of my life, I've been able to joke that my worst health problems were allergies - primarily nasal - and that I'd likely die of post-nasal drip. This wasn't entirely a joke, because the constant drip, and the related bronchial affliction from this, caused asthma-like symptoms in middle-age. (I was diagnosed with asthma, then un-diagnosed because my pulmonary strength was too great; we settled on "asthma-like symptoms.") This led to several breathing crises, exacerbated by the anxiety of the situation (it did me a great deal of good to have a blood-ox test as an attack was happening and to learn that I was actually get enough oxygen). Eventually, a medication helped by desensitizing the bronchi to allergic response and reducing a chronic state of inflammation in the bronchial passages.

Analysis: Mars in Sagittarius for bronchial inflammation. (Additionally, Virgos are known to be allergy-prone.)


In recent years, my blood pressure started going high, as is a family trait; but it was always border-line, my whole live hovering just below the "do something" line. It's controlled by a little medication (and losing 30-40 pounds a few years back helped a great deal). I just recently learned that - either a recent development from age and the higher BP, or something that was around most of my life - the primary pumping chamber of my heart only pumps about 25% as hard as it should. I'm working on this with a cardiologist, and may or may not reverse it. Treadmill tests have always been excellent, no other sign of cardiac problem, so only recently did anyone bother to check this one detail. At present, I suppose it's a little more likely that I'll eventually die from my heart slowing down than from post-nasal drip, but I don't expect that to be anytime soon. [UPDATE 2023: This problem was reversed in six months and has been stable ever since.]

Analysis: Moon in Aquarius showing vulnerability to the pumping mechanism.


My vision was always "a little astigmatism, leaning short-sighted," but at a level that only needed glasses on and off. With age, this deteriorated a little. Then, last spring, almost overnight, I lost all discerning vision in my left eye. (I can see light and shapes, just nothing focused. It looks like I'm staring out through scraped glass.) I now know that I have keratoconus, a warping of the shape of the cornea. I'm almost a case for the journals, because this normally develops young and is stabilized (no further change) by about age 40. Other than the hint that the astigmatism was always a measure of it, it's nearly unheard of to have it suddenly develop or accelerate at my age. We've watched it for several months, and it's not worsening, so I won't go the cornea transplant route that would be a permanent repair. I will soon have some special contact lenses that will turn my current 20/0L, 20/50R to about 20/40:L 20/25R/

Analysis: Less obvious. Astrology historically attributes the eyes to Sun and Moon, with the left eye in a man being especially (traditionally) attributed to Moon. Pluto has been squaring my Sun all year, and Saturn squaring my Moon much of the year. From a "natal vulnerability," I think this is an example of Mercury conjunct Saturn in Libra, background. (It even fits the psychological profile: Impacted vision forced me to make changes involving my Mercury-Saturn behavior.)


My only surgery was at age 6, a tonsillectomy. This may be the one health expression of my background Venus-Pluto square with Venus in Scorpio (although almost every kid in town had a tonsillectomy - it was the trend - so perhaps a natal pattern isn't required). [2023 NOTE: Not sure why I didn't mention: I did have a STD, but never after I fully relocated to California where this was on angles.]


I've had no serious GI issues other than in the high-stressed years of practicing law in the '90s, and this resolved when the stress levels resolved.


That's all the important stuff.

Some comments on things potentially expected from my chart factor list above:

Moon in Aquarius. I don't think this is the cervical strain. Aquarius is usually mid-back and lower, and these have been exceptionally strong.

Mercury-Saturn conjunction, background. No brain damage I do have a mild speech impediment from an overbite and had to learn in grade school how to consciously use my mouth differently in talking. Resolved long ago by this training, unless I'm so tired I don't pay attention.

Venus-Pluto square, background. I come from a family of at least two generations of adult onset diabetes, and have never had a bad fasting blood test. This is possibly the best result of my moving away from the acutely background Venus.

So there you have all my medical secrets. Hopefully this will be of interest or aid to someone. (It as a pretty good hit from the birth chart.)

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

I think this is a subject of great interest to many of us, all the more as we age.
I'm wondering, which resources (books, etc) you would recommend as a starting place for people to learn how, for instance, Mars in Sagittarius, or a Venus-Pluto square, might be interpreted.

[Jim Eshelman]

Unfortunately, I don't know of any I could recommend.

Margaret Millard, a physician who IIRC wrote a bit for Spica, wrote a book of (Tropical) case studies that I found interesting. I'm not sure if it's still available. Ebertin, of course, gives biological principles for each planet combination, and, though these are theoretical, he then followed with research.

Generally think of Mars as inflammation etc. in the body part of the sign. In the main threads in the Planets forum, I give primary medical correspondences for the planets, but they're pretty obvious (nervous system, hormones, muscles, large organs, bones, etc.). See the second post on this thread:
http://solunars.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=31#p110

[Arena]

Venus-Pluto square, background. This would only be expected to cause problems before age 20 when I moved to a location where this aspect became closely angular. If something developed, it would be a destabilization of the hormonal system, something related to sexual functioning

Well, not sure if this one helps. I had to go to hospital and be operated on when I was 16 yrs old with acute horrible infection of my reproduction system. My first boyfriend transmitted an STD to me. The doctor said to me when I was out of it that I was very very lucky that my system survived and it looked like I would be able to have children (he said it might have gone the other way).

[SteveS]

Arena, I am curious--what did your SSR say for this solar year?

[Arena]

Arena, I am curious--what did your SSR say for this solar year?

SSR 1988, the Venus-Pluto aspect does not repeat in the SSR, but the SSR IC is on n. Mars.

[Jim Eshelman]

Well, not sure if this one helps. I had to go to hospital and be operated on when I was 16 yrs old with acute horrible infection of my reproduction system. My first boyfriend transmitted an STD to me. The doctor said to me when I was out of it that I was very very lucky that my system survived and it looked like I would be able to have children (he said it might have gone the other way).

It's an excellent example! (And I'm glad it came out well for you.)

Aries corresponds to the zone of the body that contains the buttocks, rectum, possibly reaching up to tjhe kidneys, and... the uterus. (Just look at the shape of the Aries glyph.) An Aries Moon square Mars would certainly lead us to think of something inflammatory, or requiring cutting, around involving these body parts.

I wouldn't have expected your Venus-Pluto to be the culprit because it is angular - nothing suppressed about it; but the SSR itself does indeed have Venus-Pluto symbolism, from the transiting planets. (Were you still at birthplace, or had you moved? I did this for birthplace.)

Pluto 4°42' below Dsc
Venus 5°43' above Asc
Neptune 7°20' below Dsc
Venus-Pluto op. 1°01' in mundo
Venus-Neptune op. 1°37' in mundo
Neptune-Pluto conj. 2°38' in mundo

This also brings out your natal Moon-Mars, since MC was 27°56' Capricorn, exactly opposite your Mars, as you mentioned.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Unfortunately, I don't know of any I could recommend.

Drat.
I have the Margaret Millard book. That's a yonic cover.

[Jim Eshelman]

Jim, can you post the attributions of signs to body-parts?

While these might be subject to tweaking, this is the basic list. It's organized by zones of the body mostly, not by function 9but I'm not forcing myself to stick into a narrow band for formal reasons).

Libra - head
Scorpio - Neck, throat
Sagittarius - Upper extremities, shoulders, lungs
Capricorn - Breasts, stomach
Aquarius - Heart, spine (especially mid-to-low)
Pisces - Lower abdomen, intestines, probably liver, I've seen a lot of pancreas stuff
Aries - Buttocks, bowel, kidneys, uterus
Taurus - Genitals
Gemini - Hips, legs, especially upper legs (maybe very lower back because of nerve patterns)
Cancer - Knees (and perhaps joints in general)
Leo - Lower legs; but there is also a lot of low back also, esp. with Leo Moon
Virgo - Feet

JSAD and others, even though Millard's book is Tropical, convert the sample charts to Sidereal and check the Moon-sign in particular against her case histories (I'm going from memory, haven't read it in decades); IIRC there is a very striking match.

[Danica]

Aries - Buttocks, bowel, kidneys, uterus

I have Mars in Aries, and had a c-section, an appendix surgery (- which are the two hardest medical procedures I've gone through; the two others are procedures done on teeth, which also makes sense, given that my Saturn is in Libra) and some abortion-related uterus procedures.

Leo - Lower legs; but there is also a lot of low back also, esp. with Leo Moon

For some 7 years now, I've been experiencing occasional (random, and "out of the blue", i.e. with no way to anticipate when will it appear) short and very painful spasms in lower legs and feet; when in lower legs (calves), the muscles get traumatized with the spasm, and the pain lasts for couple of days (though the spasm itself never lasts more than about 5 minutes or so).
- makes sense for Moon in Leo sq Uranus!!

[Jim Eshelman]

Danica, a lot of lower extremity sensation like that originates from a nerve compression in the low back, the lumbar region immediately below the "small" of the back.

Thanks for the feedback BTW. This sort of "on target" is what I'm used to seeing, though it's hardly an exact science. Nonetheless, it seems to me far more accurate and useful than if there were no astrological contribution, i.e., it isn't random.

On the back injury issue, as I recall all of Joe Kennedy's sons that suffered severe back injuries (three of the four) had Leo Moons; but Bobby, who had a Capricorn Moon, did not.

[Avshalom Binyamin]

I have
Moon in Virgo (6 degree angular and semi-sextile Mercury, 4 degree conjunct Sun)
Mars in Scorpio (sextile with Jupiter, 4 degree conjunct Uranus)
Saturn in Virgo (4 degree angular)

I have had great health most of my life, with the following incidental issues:

-1 kidney stone, passed uneventfully

-Several broken bones: left radius and ulna, right radius, clavicle, fingers/toes. Mostly clumsy accidents on roller skates, bicycles, etc.

-2 surgeries (to add and remove metal plate for broken clavicle).

-Allergies, seasonal and other

-Asthma-prone. Exercise induced and exacerbated during previous cigarette addiction.

[Arena]

Were you still at birthplace, or had you moved? I did this for birthplace.

Yes this happened at birthplace, in the autumn of '88.

Aries - Buttocks, bowel, kidneys, uterus

I thought usually Aries is assigned the head and teeth. I've had a few falls on the head, two little scars in my face from that and had to replace teeth.

But have also had the uterus problems, starting at 16 and then I had that ectopic pregnancy in 2007 when part of the ovaries was cut away.

Some asthma has appeared when I am around mouldy buildings. It is caused by the toxins the mould produces.

[Jim Eshelman]

Your overall good health is perhaps first worth attention, especially because you have Neptune exactly rising in mundane square to Saturn near MC. One normally expects frailty pr wasting from patterns like this, which seems not true of you.

The most vital thing I see in your chart, off the top, is the New Moon.

Health figures that jump out at me in your chart are Moon in Virgo (afflicted by Mars), Mars in Scorpio, maybe Saturn in Virgo since it's angular (but same body part), maybe Neptune in Scorpio because it's angular. Background strong aspects seem limited to a moderate-orbed Mars-Uranus conjunction.

Kidney stone - expect Aries-Libra axis, I don't see anything there.

"Several broken bones" - That might be an expression of the Saturn-Neptune all by itself, perhaps? The body parts you list are mostly Sagittarius, but toes at least fall under Virgo. I don't see anything for the Sagittarius body parts, so the most we can wring out of this is "bone vulnerability." (And it sounds like you weren't under-expressing your Mars-Uranus conjunction <g>.)

Allergies ... hey, you're a Virgo Asthma might be secondary to that. (Have you tried Singlair? It targets desensitizing the bronchi to allergic inflammation.)

[Avshalom Binyamin]

One normally expects frailty pr wasting from patterns like this, which seems not true of you.

Yeah, I'm not exactly frail. Though I am pretty sensitive to substances/medication/diet, so I'm actually pretty moderate/sensible about my diet and drug/alcohol ingestion I feel really shitty really fast if I eat poorly or drink much. I still do tend to eat too much, and at times when I'm not super active, I chunk up quickly.

"Several broken bones" - That might be an expression of the Saturn-Neptune all by itself, perhaps? The body parts you list are mostly Sagittarius, but toes at least fall under Virgo. I don't see anything for the Sagittarius body parts, so the most we can wring out of this is "bone vulnerability." (And it sounds like you weren't under-expressing your Mars-Uranus conjunction <g>.)

Yeah, I would say those injuries have been more about chosen activities than any underlying health issue.

(Have you tried Singlair? It targets desensitizing the bronchi to allergic inflammation.)

It's been so mild that I usually only need occasional inhaler use when I have a bad respiratory infection. But I'll keep that in mind.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

I have Saturn in Leo. When I was a child, I slipped on a wet concrete step and fell and broke my ankle. The original doctor said it was just a sprain. A couple weeks later my family doctor x-rayed it and it was broken. Despite being reset, it's never come right and I limp when I've walked further than I should and since I got older, it hurts first thing in the morning and when some fronts go through.

[Jim Eshelman]

Ah yes, Neptune as "sensitivities," reacting more rapidly to things that are better called "chemicals" than "food."

I feel really shitty really fast if I eat poorly or drink much. I still do tend to eat too much, and at times when I'm not super active, I chunk up quickly.

One would think, with the ancient Graeco-Roman patron of our Sun-sign being the goddess of wheat, that I could handle carbs better;. but no, that's exactly what adds the pounds. We've been eating keto for a few months (very high fat, fairly high protein, close to zero digestible carbs) and I dropped 20 pounds I didn't set out to lose, while usually feelng like I'm gorging myself.

"Several broken bones" - That might be an expression of the Saturn-Neptune all by itself, perhaps? The body parts you list are mostly Sagittarius, but toes at least fall under Virgo. I don't see anything for the Sagittarius body parts, so the most we can wring out of this is "bone vulnerability." (And it sounds like you weren't under-expressing your Mars-Uranus conjunction <g>.)

Yeah, I would say those injuries have been more about chosen activities than any underlying health issue.

I'm working on the theory that the bones that break most have some natural vulnerability for the person; then again, if one keeps pounding one's unprotected fists against concrete, it doesn't matter much if the Moon is in the sign ruling the ribs or hips

[Jim Eshelman]

I have Saturn in Leo. When I was a child, I slipped on a wet concrete step and fell and broke my ankle. The original doctor said it was just a sprain. A couple weeks later my family doctor x-rayed it and it was broken. Despite being reset, it's never come right and I limp when I've walked further than I should and since I got older, it hurts first thing in the morning and when some fronts go through.

Ugh.

Good symbolism (for an un-good event), and Saturn's sign does seem often a "culprit" for this sort of thing; though I have to keep asking why something shared by every kid you went to school with born in a 2-3 year period would do this for you and not for them. You didn't have a whole school of kids who all had broken ankles or legs or mangled low back, right? (I presume the answer is, Right.)

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

I don't have a data for the incident (I think it was July '64, but am not sure) so I can't tell you what progressions or aspects might have singled me out for this. I know I had a teacher in Sept '64 who made my entire class stay late for something, so I missed the last bus and had to walk home, which caused another attempt at resetting the break, and when I got back to school, my mother had discussed the situation with the school board and that teacher was no longer there.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

One the other hand... I did have at least three different classmates who were sitting on the back of a car which was rear-ended and lost the lower parts of their legs. I think it was one every year of highschool after 9th grade. (Mostly girls, and mostly girls who would otherwise have been a member of the queen's court at homecoming, thus the sitting on the back of a car.) And there were a lot of young men who lost limbs in Vietnam. So there's that.

[Jim Eshelman]

Well, July '64 did have Saturn transiting your Descendant and, mid-month, Mars squared your Saturn... but you aren't fully sure of the month, it seems. Oh, wait, if it was anywhere close, progressed Sun conjoined natal Saturn, unlocking the whole potential of that natal position In mid-July, it was 0°10' past the exact conjunction, easily close enough to be a big part of the picture.

PS - Just saw your follow-up post. Big sad ugh

[DDonovanKinsolving]

Has anyone tried out the biological correspondences provided by Ebertin in Combination of Stellar Influences?

-Derek

[Jim Eshelman]

I mentioned them above. They're at least a good theoretical start.

[SteveS]

FWIW, page 19 of Solunars Handbook (collection of Fagan’s AA articles), from one of Fagan’s AA Solunar article (Zodiacal Melothesia), he lists under medical astrology for Cancer:

Breast, chest, stomach

Without a doubt, most of my life, my stomach has been my main health problem area with various afflictions. Now with my advancing age, my heart (chest) has become somewhat afflicted; and my heart affliction was precisely timed by my 2016 SSR with a double whammy of Moon-Saturn. One of these whammy’s was SSR Saturn partile cnj Natal Moon; the other whammy—Natal Saturn in (Cancer) partile cnj SSR Asc, tightly squaring a culminating SSR Moon, with partile hit of p. SSR Moon partile 90 my Natal Saturn partile cnj SSR Asc--timing the exact beginning of my troubled heart problems. During my minor heart surgery in early 2017, I was prescribed a temporary medicine with a severe 'stomach' reaction which almost killed me off. I was born with Saturn cnj Pluto in Cancer, exact mundo cnj. Pluto-- without a doubt the most afflicted aspect in my Natal Chart proven to my mind with certain circumstances in my life. Fagan states in the same AA article continued in next post.

[SteveS]

Fagan’s words with medical astrology:

Most seasoned astrologers will, I think, concede that the least satisfactory branch of their art is what is termed medical astrology. Most astrological textbooks, medieval and modern, devote one or more chapters to the subject, but it has been generally found that the many rules and aphorisms contained in them for effecting judgement have repeatedly failed when put to the test, with the result that they have long ceased to command the confidence of the astrological world. Briefly stated, these rules inform us (a) that the native will be liable to the ailments indicated by the constellation on the 6th house, or by the planets, if any, placed in that house; (b) by the malefic that may configurates the Ascendant or one of both luminaries at birth; the seat of the affliction being indicated by the constellation that contains the malefic, or the luminaries. From this it will be seen that the determination of the seat of the affliction is dependent on the constellation that contains the afflicted planet, according to the following zodiacal Melothesia:

Aries: Head, face, brain
Taurus: Neck, throat, cerebellum
Gemini: Shoulders, arms, lungs
Cancer: Breast, chest, stomach
Leo: Spine, back, heart
Virgo: Abdominal and umbilical region
Libra: Lumbar region, kidneys
Scorpio: Excretory and sexual organs
Sagittarius: Hips, thighs
Capricorn: Knees, hams
Aquarius: Legs, angles
Pisces: Feet, toes

The rest of article to be continued in next post.

[SteveS]

Finishing Fagan’s medial astrology article:

Allowing for certain variations and modifications (e.g., in Hindu astrology the heart is placed under Cancer) * certainly true for my life * this zodiacal Melothesia, taken as a whole, has been accepted as part of the astrological world since the beginning of the Christian era and, to my knowledge, its validity has never been seriously called into question. But is it really valid? According to Raphael’s Medical Astrology, Saturn in Aries causes inter alia deftness. The writer has a collection of horoscopes of people born in the year 1896 who have Saturn in the opposite constellation Libra, and who have been deft since childhood. But he has failed to find a similar series of charts of deft people who have Saturn in Aires; Why? Of course, it is easy to argue these are cases of polarity, but this word “polarity” is merely a convenient pigeonhole to hide something not understood.

[Jim Eshelman]

Thanks, Steve, for the examples. A couple of remarks...

First, while Fagan did provide this traditional table, he also spent a lot of column space in "Solunars" documenting and supporting the reverse model, which he started to address at the end of your last quote - that wherein Libra, and not Aries, is the head, and (accordingly) Capricorn, and not Cancer, is the stomach and breasts. (For example, he cited that Capricorn's root myth is the goat Amalthea who was Zeus' wet-nurse, hence the more modern use of the word "nanny"; while Cancer, as a crab, is structurally all about the joints).

Second, despite his implied disparagement of the polarity idea, I think there is something to it There are complicated reasons behind this thinking, but part of it is that sometimes it just seems that it is so, and I'm not the first astrologer to think that there is something inherently connected between body parts represented by opposing signs. I at least always keep this in mind as a possibility.

Your own chart and life, as you cited, are a particularly good example of Cancer seeming to rule the stomach and even the chest - it all seems tied together for you. OTOH, I started looking for whether you might have other stomach vulnerability indicators and note that you have an afflicted Moon - in her fall and half a degree from a hard aspect with Mars. (The heart vulnerability I had attributed to your Sun-Uranus square.)

FWIW... since none of us knows nearly enough about this subject (which was my main reason for starting it up).

[SteveS]

Jim wrote:

First, while Fagan did provide this traditional table, he also spent a lot of column space in "Solunars" documenting and supporting the reverse model, which he started to address at the end of your last quote - that wherein Libra, and not Aries, is the head, and (accordingly) Capricorn, and not Cancer, is the stomach and breasts. (For example, he cited that Capricorn's root myth is the goat Amalthea who was Zeus' wet-nurse, hence the more modern use of the word "nanny"; while Cancer, as a crab, is structurally all about the joints).

I clearly understand Jim. I only have Fagan’s limited AA articles in ‘Solunars’ and did not realize Fagan changed his mind about his first article on medical astrology. Thanks for pointing this out to me. It has always been on my ‘bucket list’ to obtain ALL of Fagan’s AA articles and other writings that you have absorbed for my individual serious study.
Jim wrote:

Second, despite his implied disparagement of the polarity idea, I think there is something to it…

I entirely agree!
Jim wrote:

I started looking for whether you might have other stomach vulnerability indicators and note that you have an afflicted Moon - in her fall and half a degree from a hard aspect with Mars. (The heart vulnerability I had attributed to your Sun-Uranus square.)

Exactly! Mars is the lesser malefic and that partile Moon-Mars 135 damn sure plays a role with an upset stomach, at times, particularly when I find myself in angered fighting (Mars) situations. My partile Sun 90 Uranus? Yes indeed! I have been told by two different psychics that when I pass it will be ‘suddenly’ (Uranus), and I will not know what hit me. If true, this probably means I will die with a sudden heart (Sun) attack, truly a Jupiter blessing. In my previous post I was looking at by health life with Fagan's first AA article on medical astrology in the context of the greater malefic--Saturn.
Jim wrote:

FWIW... since none of us knows nearly enough about this subject (which was my main reason for starting it up).

Exactly! A damn good thread for 'food for thought'—we can only absorb and make certain assumptions/conclusions based on the context of individual lives. So much true knowledge from the ancients has been lost with over assumptions/conclusion from other astrological writers, which Fagan reiterated with his own astrological research.

[Jim Eshelman]

A few of the brief arguments defending the "Libra as head" model (though my real argument is in performance - something that truly impressed me when converting the charts in Millard's book to Sidereal).

First, the idea seems to have arisen for Fagan because the original attribution wasn't to signs but to houses (e.g., head = 1st house). After he realized that the earliest sign-house correspondences were from the Libra =- 1st house model, he started exploring the implications of this for medical astrology. Some brief notes off the top of my head:

Libra = head. Organs of balance are there, the face is the primary focus of beautification etc.

Scorpio = throat. Patron goddess in Egypt was "She who relieves the windpipe." Most historic forms of execution involved the neck, e.g., hanging or beheading.

Sagittarius = upper torso etc. Shape of the archer in action, some Egyptian hieroglyphics related to hand; and Bradley wrote a piece at some point about the social rituals of using the hands etc.

Capricorn = breasts etc. Amalthea, the she-goat that breast-fed Zeus, was later placed in the sky as Capricorn.

Aquarius = heart. Twin streams pumping etc.

Pisces = lower abdomen. Fish connected at umbilicus (to which we can add all the Neptune-intrauterine symbolism from Kid Gloves).

Aries = buttocks & uterus - the glyph is the shape of both! (Also kidneys and the map for vessels conveying from there to the bladder)

Taurus = genitals. Original hieroglyph for Taurus/bull is a phallus

Gemini = legs, obvious for Mercury and the "two" thing

Cancer = joints - consider shell & general construction of a crab

Leo = back and ankles - shape gives this away, Fagan went on about Victorian furniture designs etc.

Virgo = feet - back to Mercury, winged ankles, grape stomping

[SteveS]

Arena wrote:

I had to go to hospital and be operated on when I was 16 yrs old with acute horrible infection of my reproduction system. My first boyfriend transmitted an STD to me.

Jim wrote pertaining to this ‘horrible infection’ for Arena's 16th SSR:

...but the SSR itself does indeed have Venus-Pluto symbolism… with Venus-Pluto op. 1°01' in mundo.

Ebertin writes for Venus-Pluto:

Biological Correspondence: The first occurrence of the menses, the ovaries,--Corpus luteum. Occasionally excessive or abnormal sex-life.

Not an exact Venus-Pluto Biological delineation for Arena’s infection stemming from a sexual encounter at 16, but combo-up with her SSR IC on Natal Mars, I think we see the angular infection (Mars) with her ‘first boyfriend.’ Bradley teaches us with his research: “Angular Pluto in SSR has to with “Firsts” of any kind," hence, Arena’s ‘first boyfriend’ transmitting STD to Arena with this sexual encounter.

Yes Derek, IMO, we need to definitely pay close attention to Ebertin's 'Biological Correspondence' when we see a malefic SSR, more so maybe--the older we become.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Aquarius - lungs?

Allergies are not always respiratory, but are always caused by toxins, including some pollens, molds and metals, and some foods.

I have a lot of allergies. I have a partile Venus Pluto conjunction, which was background where I was born, but is angular here. I've also lived where it was middleground and had no particular allergy problems, just some end of summer ragweed reactions that anyone could have. I don't have "asthma" because that would have been a pre-existing condition and not covered a few times it was important, so I have "reactive lungs". I do take Singular (montelukast) as needed (seasonally, mostly.)

I also have food allergies, and severe drug allergies. Penicillin is made from bread mold, but it's not the only mold toxin that kills bacteria. I'm highly reactive to mold, by respiration, ingestion and contact. I can also tell you if something contains nickle or wool.

The worst week of my life began August 4, 2003, when I started having trouble breathing because the stupid city decided to widen several roads in the area at once during a very hot, dry period, just as the ragweed came into bloom. It ended the 22nd at the emergency clinic with an epinephrine shot and an oxygen mask. There were some really horrific days (the 9th and the 18th especially) including deaths that hit hard. The astrology of that time is... strange. Clearly there is something I'm missing. T Jupiter + T Uranus conj/opp N Jupiter. Really?

[Jim Eshelman]

The nature of an allergy is that it strengthens with each exposure; so yes, relocating does give at least temporary relief. For example, I had the same "hay fever" in Indiana that everyone had - strong, disgusting stuff all the time - then moved to California and it was gone for about five years. (There are different pollens here than in Indiana.) Then they started up again - each exposure intensifying the reaction.

The worst week of my life began August 4, 2003, when I started having trouble breathing because the stupid city decided to widen several roads in the area at once during a very hot, dry period, just as the ragweed came into bloom. It ended the 22nd at the emergency clinic with an epinephrine shot and an oxygen mask. There were some really horrific days (the 9th and the 18th especially) including deaths that hit hard. The astrology of that time is... strange. Clearly there is something I'm missing. T Jupiter + T Uranus conj/opp N Jupiter. Really?

I'd think the Jupiter-Uranus to Jupiter, if anything, was the medical intervention. I've wasted a lot of good Jupiter transits by getting sufficiently sick right before that the Jupiter was (whoop-de-doo) getting over it. <sigh>

Neptune was approximately square your Mars at the time - a little wide for a plain transit, but perfectly good if we found this on, say, a Lunar Return angle. (In fact, there was a partile Sun-Neptune opposition the day it started.) Was this in Elkhorn?

Similarly, Saturn was conjunct your Uranus, not quite partile. Doesn't seem a direct hit of the event you described, but a definite disruptive PITA.

Beginning the 9th, Mars retrograded into opposition to your Sun - inflammation effects, physical hardship, body fight back with its defense systems, etc.

(Off to do some calculating, then:) If this was in Elkhorn, we do get exactly what I was looking for: Your SLR for July 20, though with Jupiter at MC, has a tight Mercury-Neptune opposition square your rising Mars: Sensitivity, breathing, inflammation, fearful anxiety, everything I can imagine about it:

16°12' Lib SLR Asc
17°24' Cap Neptune
18°54' Lib r Mars
19°09' Can Mercury

The Demi-SLR August 3, besides natal Mercury at MC, has Mars closely square Ascendant, and Pluto closer to Asc than is comfortable in this situation (3°).

By August 16, you had a new SLR and for the same spot, it has... yup, natal Mars setting (not quite as closely), still squared by Neptune..

So, for astrology's sake, I hope this was in Nebraska

You were also at the tail end of a Solar Return with... Mars at Midheaven and a partile Moon-Pluto opposition. (m I fantasizing, or did you really think you were going to die a few times during the ordeal? The SLR bespeaks "crisis" in any case.) When transiting Uranus was conjoining your natal Jupiter in August, it was also (even more closely) opposing SSR Mars and crossing SSR IC.

FWIW

[Jim Eshelman]

Oh, and regardless of where you lived, progressed SSR Moon August 4 was 2°36' Gemini, a week short of exact conjunction with your natal Saturn. That's actually the biggest thing going besides the Neptune & Friends pounding your Mars.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Yes, this was in Elkhorn. And it was more than a week - the 4th through the 22nd.
The 9th was the day my aunt, the last member of my family of my parent's generation, died.

[Jim Eshelman]

Moon-Saturn!

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Yeah, I did think I was going to die more than once. And a couple times I was afraid I wouldn't. And then there was the epinephrine injection, so I wasn't the only one who thought dying was a possibility. Epinephrine is adrenaline. That was.. exciting.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Moon-Saturn..
The 18th at 7:30 AM, I had to let a little 6 lb cat named Trouble go. He was 5 years old. His kidneys had shut down, and there was nothing anybody could do. It's never easy to let a loved animal go, but that was the very worst. He was my little Troublesome Kitten, didn't matter where I was, there he was, and I still miss him.

[Jim Eshelman]

Bindar Dundat. Man, that progressed Moon-Saturn conjunction month was something!

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Thanks for taking the time to go into the astrology. I have trouble looking at that time, and just got stuck in the Jupiter-Uranus stuff.

[SteveS]

During my double whammy Moon-Saturn SSR 2016, I lost my two of my 3 cats which broke my heart, as well as the minor heart health problems.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Yeah, exactly. I always had thought Venus to Saturn was the (emotional) heart-breaker, but it's the Moon that does that.

[Jim Eshelman]

Yeah, exactly. I always had thought Venus to Saturn was the (emotional) heart-breaker, but it's the Moon that does that.

Oh, Venus-Saturn can be a heart-breaker, too... but, more often than not, I see it in, say, care-taker situations, places where we demonstrate devotion. One still gets to express Venus, still has someone to love, and that's different then having them gone.

BTW, one of the earliest medical astrology particulars I learned was that Venus-Saturn was common for congenital heart defects. I haven't been able to confirm that in a large scale, though it has certainly shown in at least a handful of individual cases. It may be entirely psychosomatic (which, actually, I think is behind most illness, even overtly organic defects), because it does lead to being "heart-sick." As a natal aspect, in non-trivial congenital defect cases, it certainly limits the activities of childhood, so may also have that as an indirect meaning. I'm not oblivious to the fact that I was just diagnosed with a heart that pumps lower volumes just as progressed Venus and Saturn move into a seven-year conjunction.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Oh, Venus-Saturn can be a heart-breaker, too... but, more often than not, I see it in, say, care-taker situations, places where we demonstrate devotion. One still gets to express Venus, still has someone to love, and that's different then having them gone.

I've always thought of Venus-Saturn as the heart-burdener - love expressed as duty, especially the duty of care. There's also the psychological truth that caring for someone who's dying usually causes a self-protective pulling back and emotional blocking off,(distancing) so the caretaking can become nothing more than duty with no recognition of the bond, and then the heart is guilty and shattered when the person at the other end of the connection that's being severed dies.